# 道路交通法 / Road Traffic Act — 第三十八条 (Article 38) - Law: 道路交通法 (Road Traffic Act), 昭和三十五年法律第百五号 - English title "Road Traffic Act": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第三十八条 (Article 38)（横断歩道等における歩行者等の優先） — address `art-38` - Text in force since: 2026-07-21 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-38 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-38 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第三十八条（横断歩道等における歩行者等の優先） — (Pedestrians' and Cyclists' Right of Way at Pedestrian and Bicycle Crossings) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-38 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-38 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-38 **第一項** 車両等は、横断歩道又は自転車横断帯（以下この条において「横断歩道等」という。）に接近する場合には、当該横断歩道等を通過する際に当該横断歩道等によりその進路の前方を横断しようとする歩行者又は自転車（以下この条において「歩行者等」という。）がないことが明らかな場合を除き、当該横断歩道等の直前（道路標識等による停止線が設けられているときは、その停止線の直前。以下この項において同じ。）で停止することができるような速度で進行しなければならない。この場合において、横断歩道等によりその進路の前方を横断し、又は横断しようとする歩行者等があるときは、当該横断歩道等の直前で一時停止し、かつ、その通行を妨げないようにしなければならない。 art-38/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-38/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-38/par-1 When approaching a pedestrian crossing or a bicycle crossing lane (hereinafter referred to in this Article as a "pedestrian or bicycle crossing"), a vehicle or streetcar must proceed at a speed that will enable it to stop immediately in front of the pedestrian or bicycle crossing (or immediately in front of any stop line indicated by road signs or markings; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph), unless there are clearly no pedestrians or bicycles (hereinafter referred to in this Article as a "pedestrian or cyclist") ahead of the vehicle or streetcar. In such a case, if a pedestrian or cyclist is crossing or about to cross the pedestrian or bicycle crossing ahead of the vehicle or streetcar, the vehicle or streetcar must come to a stop immediately in front of the pedestrian or bicycle crossing and must not prevent that pedestrian or cyclist from proceeding. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 車両等は、横断歩道等（当該車両等が通過する際に信号機の表示する信号又は警察官等の手信号等により当該横断歩道等による歩行者等の横断が禁止されているものを除く。次項において同じ。）又はその手前の直前で停止している車両等がある場合において、当該停止している車両等の側方を通過してその前方に出ようとするときは、その前方に出る前に一時停止しなければならない。 art-38/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-38/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-38/par-2 When overtaking another vehicle or streetcar on one side before pulling in front of it, the driver of a vehicle or streetcar must come to a stop if the other vehicle or streetcar is stopped at or immediately in front of a pedestrian or bicycle crossing (other than a pedestrian or bicycle crossing where the signal indicated by a traffic light or the alternative signal of an officer prohibits pedestrians and cyclists from crossing at the time the vehicle or streetcar in question is overtaking; the same applies hereinafter in the following paragraph). Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 車両等は、横断歩道等及びその手前の側端から前に三十メートル以内の道路の部分においては、第三十条第三号の規定に該当する場合のほか、その前方を進行している他の車両等（特定小型原動機付自転車等を除く。）の側方を通過してその前方に出てはならない。 art-38/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-38/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-38/par-3 A vehicle or streetcar must not, on a pedestrian or bicycle crossing or on a part of the road within 30 meters before the near-side edge of the pedestrian or bicycle crossing, go past the side of another vehicle or streetcar (other than a specified small motorized bicycle or light road vehicle) that is proceeding ahead of it and pull in front of it, except in a case that falls under Article 30, item (iii). machine translation, not official --- ## Cites - art-38/par-1: この条 → 道路交通法 第三十八条 (Article 38), art-38 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-38 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-38 - art-38/par-1: この項 → 道路交通法 第三十八条第一項 (Article 38, paragraph (1)), art-38/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-38/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-38/par-1 - art-38/par-2: 次項 → 道路交通法 第三十八条第三項 (Article 38, paragraph (3)), art-38/par-3 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-38/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-38/par-3 - art-38/par-3: 第三十条第三号 → 道路交通法 第三十条第一項第三号 (Article 30, paragraph (1), item (iii)), art-30/par-1/item-3 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-30/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-30/par-1/item-3 ## Cited by 5 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 道路交通法 第三十八条第一項（横断歩道等における歩行者等の優先） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-38/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-38/par-1 - 道路交通法 第三十八条第二項（横断歩道等における歩行者等の優先） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-38/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-38/par-2 - 道路交通法 第四十一条第一項（緊急自動車等の特例） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-41/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-41/par-1 - 道路交通法 第四十一条の二第四項（消防用車両の優先等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-41-2/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-41-2/par-4 - 道路交通法 第百十九条第一項第五号 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-119/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-119/par-1/item-5 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 道路交通法 — the text in force from 2026-07-21 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/335AC0000000105/20260721_508AC0000000052), retrieved 2026-10-13 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Road Traffic Act — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/2962/tb), retrieved 2026-10-13 - claude-sonnet-5-5 — Machine translation, batch road-traffic-act-20261013T074321-003, translated 2026-10-13 - This site's parser, version 190 — 道路交通法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-13